Best Days of Our Lives
by StudentofDust
Summary: A series of oneshots, all of varying lengths. All Harry/Luna centric, some Ron/Hermione and Ginny/Neville included also. Chapter 14: Hallowed.
1. The Heliopath

"I caught it! I finally caught it!"

The entire Great Hall turned their heads to see who in the world was making such a commotion. The back door burst open, and almost everyone chuckled- they should have known who was doing that.

Luna ran over to the Gryffindor table, where she stopped, panting, in front of Harry.

"Harry!" Luna said, still out of breath, "I did it!"

Harry, being still not awake fully, said, "Did what, Luna?"

"I caught it!" said Luna, excitedly.

For the life of him, Harry had no idea what on earth Luna was talking about. Suddenly, the light dawned in his head, and he laughed softly.

"You're telling me that you actually caught one?" asked Harry in disbelief.

"Caught one what?" asked Ron, his curiosity piqued.

"A heliopath," replied Harry. "Luna's been trying to catch one for a pretty long time now."

Ron's jaw dropped; he looked over at Hermione. "But… I thought you already established that heliopaths don't exist, Hermione."

"I did…" she muttered, still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Luna actually thought she'd caught one.

"Come on, Harry!" said Luna, tugging at Harry's sleeve.

"After breakfast," said Harry, returning to his eggs. Ron snickered at the thought of Harry even humoring Luna, but he stopped when he saw the offended look on Luna's face.

"Maybe you ought to try thinking a bit outside your own world for once, Ronald," Luna snapped. "It would do you some good." As much as she didn't want to, Hermione had to laugh, even when Ron gave her his "Don't go there" look.

"Come on!" said Luna, even more impatiently.

"Okay, fine," said Harry; he stuffed one last mouthful of eggs into his mouth before taking off- or more precisely, being pulled off by an eager Luna.

"I knew you'd believe me!" Luna said as she dragged Harry along.

"I'm not quite sure I do," said Harry. "Where did you catch it?"

"Snape's dungeon," replied Luna.

Harry stopped, nearly being pulled over by the still-walking Luna. "You really want to go down to Snape's dungeon? What were you doing down there in the first place?"

"I had to follow it," replied Luna.

"Well, we're not going down there," said Harry. Luna continued to pull him along, though, and Harry gave up, knowing there was no stopping her now. They soon arrived- too soon, in Harry's eyes.

"I put the cage in this room, so Snape or anyone else wouldn't find it," said Luna. She pointed her wand at the door and, saying, "_Alohomora_," unlocked it.

"Come on," said Luna, and Harry stepped into the room.

The room was oddly bright- way too bright for Snape's dark habits. Harry squinted his eyes, and to his amazement, could make out a cage with a bright being inside it.

:"Luna…" muttered Harry, "where on earth did you find this?"

"In the woods, just beyond the thestral grounds," replied Luna; she seemed to be unperturbed by the very bright light.

"I just can't believe you actually caught one of the creatures you're always talking about," said Harry.

Luna reached out and grabbed Harry's hand. "It's great, isn't it? But do you know what the best part is?"

"What's that?" asked Harry.

Harry could barely make out a sly grin on her face. "Now, I can finally prove to Ron that my ideas aren't just fairytales. Wait 'til he sees this!"


	2. A Snow Dance?

"Another boring weekend at Hogwarts…"

Such was the common thought at the school; Hogsmeade was still a week away, and there seemed to not be much to do. In the Gryffindor common room, there was particular unrest. Ron had already beaten Harry three times straight in wizard chess, and he was prodding Harry now, trying to get him to play a fourth game. Even Hermione had gotten bored with studying, and had taken to pacing around the common room.

Suddenly, inspiration came to Ron. "You want to do something fun?" he asked Harry.

"Sure, I'm up for it," Harry replied. "What did you have in mind?"

Ron's smile turned into a sly grin. "Sneak into Hogsmeade, of course. Just you and me."

Unfortunately for Ron, Hermione had heard him; when she did, her jaw dropped. "Ronald Weasley!" she said harshly, "don't you even think about doing that!"

"Bit too late for that, isn't it?" muttered Ron. Harry laughed, but Hermione's scowl grew even more pronounced.

"You going to stop us?" Ron asked. The look on Hermione's face told them she wouldn't, so they got up.

"I'm coming with," she said.

Ron looked incredulous. "But… you just said you were against it!"

"Yes," she said, "but someone has to come along and make sure you two don't get into trouble…" Ron and Harry looked at each other, then nodded in Hermione's direction. Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak, then the three stole out of the portrait hole.

Harry slipped the Cloak over them; then, walking as quietly as they could, went down to one of the trusty exits that Fred and George had shown Harry so long ago. They moved quickly, and after about five minutes, they were in Hogsmeade. Quietly, they opened the floor panel and went up the stairs; they saw the familiar sight of the candies galore in Honeydukes.

"Where to now?" asked Hermione.

"How about a visit to the Shrieking Shack?" asked Ron. They agreed, then walked out of the shop and onto the path that would take them to the Shack.

Soon, they were there, and they took the cloak off.

"I wish it would snow," said Ron.

Hermione laughed. "Come now, Ron, you know it's only September… It won't start snowing for at least another month and a half."

"I can make it snow," they heard from behind them. They all recognized the dreamy voice immediately, but none of them could believe their ears- until they turned around and saw that it was, indeed, who they thought it would be.

"Why are _you_ here?" asked Ron.

"I followed you all here," replied Luna. "Do you want me to make it snow?"

"_Can_ you?" asked Harry.

"Of course," said Luna. She then launched into a bizarre dance. Harry had seen some American Indian rain dances before, and what Luna was doing sort of reminded him of what he saw. He couldn't help but like her, though, despite her… weirdness. It took her about two or three minutes to finish the whole dance, and when she did, she simply stood there and smiled.

"Wait a bit," Luna said. "It'll come."

They waited… and waited… and waited. "This is bogus," said Ron, starting to walk away; he had only taken a step, though, when something hit his hand. He looked down, only to find a snowflake sitting there. He looked up to see snow beginning to fall everywhere. They all looked at Luna, in shock.

"Told you so," she said, a hint of pride in her voice. Sweeping around, she walked away, leaving the trio standing there, wondering what on earth had just happened.


	3. Christmas Surprises

A crash resounded throughout the house, and the only asleep member of the small family bolted upright. Wondering just what on earth was going on downstairs, she crept along the hallway and down the stairs. When she got to the kitchen and saw what had occurred, she laughed.

"Oh, daddy, can't you be more careful?"

Xenophilius laughed. "Sorry, Luna. Did I wake you?"

Luna simply smiled. "It's okay," she said, "I was bound to wake up soon anyways."

Laughing, Xenophilius turned back to cutting up the carrots. "If you would, dear, go down to the firewood stand and bring us up a few logs."

Luna left the kitchen and went outside to get the wood. She loved being outside, especially during the crisp winter months- the snow beneath her feet, the pleasantly cold air- she loved it all. This Christmas, though, was the ninth Christmas that the Lovegood family would be spending without Luna's mum, and that always got Luna a bit down around Christmastime; her mum always had loved the Christmas season.

Luna shook off the depressed feeling and went down to the storage bin. When she got there, though, she stopped in the doorway, a bit perplexed. She scratched her head, then went inside. When she confirmed what she had originally thought, she raced back up the hill and into the house.

"Daddy!" she said as soon as she hit the doorway, "The wood's gone!"

Xenophilius looked at her in alarm. "None of the wood was down there?"

"No, none," replied Luna. She took a quick glance around the living room- and stopped at what she saw.

"It's in here," she said.

"What is?" asked Xenophilius.

"The wood. It's all here in the living room."

Xenophilius came in, looking as perplexed as Luna had been. "Now how in the world did all this get in here?" He went back into the kitchen with a shrug. Luna looked at the pile of wood and noticed a piece of paper on top.

_Dear Luna,_ the note read, _I'm trying to make this Christmas as easy as I can for you and your dad. So a lot of the things you normally had to do are already done. I hope this Christmas can be the best for you and your dad._ It was simply signed, _Someone._

Luna smiled to herself. "Who in the world would go through all the trouble to do this for me? And when would they have found the time to do it?" She then remembered that they had been gone for a few days, visiting old friends. _Well, that answers that question,_ she thought.

Looking around the living room, she saw that the writer of the note had, indeed, seemed to think of everything- the Christmas tree was decorated the rest of the way, the stockings had been hung, the candles lit… Just then, she heard a knock on the door. She opened it, and smiled.

"Why, Harry!" she said, "What a lovely surprise."

"I just stopped by to drop off your Christmas present," Harry said, handing a large, soft package to Luna. "Open it; I want to see what you think." Luna opened it and burst into a wide grin.

"Harry, I love it!" she exclaimed, holding up a scarf that was woven using the Ravenclaw colors. "Thank you so much!"

Harry smiled. "You're quite welcome." He turned to leave, but stopped. "Glad I could be of some help to you."

Luna looked up suddenly. "No way…" Harry simply smiled, then turned and walked off, in the direction of the Weasley household.


	4. It Knows

It was that time of year, the time that just about every Hogwarts student found themselves hating- final exam time. It seemed as though this year was going to be their hardest; last year, they had their O.W.L.'s, next year would be N.E.W.T. year, but these were just regular exams- which is why it seemed as though not many people were taking them seriously.

"Come on, Harry," said Ron one day. "Let's get some Quidditch practice in."

Hermione glanced over at Ron. "I know you think Quidditch is important, Ron, but you need to study for your exams."

Ron glared at Hermione, but sank down into the one remaining armchair- the other two being occupied by Harry and Hermione. "Okay, fine…" he murmured. "What exam do we have first?"

Harry checked his schedule. "Astronomy, tonight."

Ron laughed. "Easy. What's next?"

Harry looked down again. "Tomorrow, Defense against the Dark Arts."

Sighing, Ron said, "Okay, let's study Astronomy first; we've got that one first, anyways."

They studied well into the night, seeing as the exam wasn't slated to start until 10:00, anyways. Near the start of the exam, the three went up to the Astronomy tower, where they met Professor Sinistra.

"You will lay down in your assigned spots," the professor said, "and begin your stargazing exam immediately."

Harry looked for his spot and, to his bemusement, it was right next to Luna. Harry walked over and lay beside her.

"I didn't know you were in Astronomy," said Harry, as he got himself situated. "And don't Ravenclaws have their exams tomorrow."

Luna smiled at him. "I got permission to take the exam early."

This time, Harry smiled; he got out his telescope and began gazing, when he heard Luna say, "There's supposed to be a shooting star tonight, you know."

Harry glanced over, in surprise. "How'd you find that out?"

Luna laughed quietly. "It was quite obvious, you know. The Nargles are out in full force, and they only do that on nights when there's a shooting star."

Harry smiled to himself. _Should have known it had something to do with those creatures Luna's always talking about. _He went back to gazing at the stars, occasionally stopping to scribble something down on his test paper.

"I love it out here at night," said Luna abruptly. Harry jumped a bit at her voice.

"What?" he asked. "Oh. Yeah, I do, too. When I go to my aunt and uncle's house on vacation, I always make it a point to spend one night in the plains near my home." Harry smiled, reminiscing. "I always just sit up all night, watching the stars. It's… peaceful, I guess."

"My mum always loved it," replied Luna. Without a word, she reached over and took Harry's hand (luckily, the one he wasn't using). "You and her would have gotten along quite well."

Harry was more than a bit shocked at this. He was about to say something when a pinpoint of light moved in the sky. Harry swung his telescope over to where he saw it, and his jaw fell.

"Luna…" he whispered, "You were right. Look!"

They both concentrated on the same spot, and sure enough, a shooting star was making its way across the sky. Gasps came from the surrounding students, as they noticed it also.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" asked Harry, looking over at Luna.

Luna simply smiled. "It knows," was all she said.

Harry was a bit confused at this. "It knows what?" he asked.

She gazed into his eyes for a moment. "It knows that we love it." Then, she turned her head away and began her stargazing again, though she did not let go of Harry's hand for the rest of the exam.


	5. Redecorating

She slowly opened her eyes, and the blurriness soon faded away. Sitting up against the back of her bed, she looked over at her watch to see what time it was. The clock read 5:30, and she slumped back onto her bed, just wanting to go back to sleep. Just then, the door opened to the dorm.

"Luna?" she heard a voice ask. "There's someone outside to see you…"

Luna got up, taking her time. _Who'd want to talk to me this early in the morning?_ she asked herself as she made her way down the stairway, to the portrait-hole. When she stuck her head out, she was surprised at who was standing there.

"Hermione?" she asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

Hermione blushed a little, though it might have been due to her holding tightly onto Ron's hand. "Sorry if we woke you up, Luna; I just thought you might want to come with us."

"To do what?" Luna asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Hagrid invited us- well, me, Ron, and Harry- to help him decorate the Great Hall with all the Christmas decorations. He told us we could bring someone else, and… well, Harry said he wanted to bring you along."

Luna glanced over to her right; sure enough, Harry was leaning up against the wall. Luna could feel her face growing red, so she quickly said, "Okay. I'll be right down," and ducked back into the common room.

"Why would Harry want to bring _me_ along?" she asked herself, as she quickly got dressed and headed downstairs again. She shrugged it off, though, as she got out into the hallway.

"Come on!" said Ron, clearly impatient to go.

"Ronald!" scolded Hermione, but Luna and Harry simply laughed.

It wasn't long before they found themselves in the Great Hall. It looked a bit odd, what with decorations in odd places, not all up yet. They found Hagrid at the front of the room, though- seeing as he _was_ Hagrid- he wasn't too hard to find.

"Harry! Ron! Hermione!" Hagrid called out when he saw them walk in. "You made it! And… Luna, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," replied Luna.

"Alright then!" said Hagrid, turning to the decorations. "If you all would, help me get these things up, in time for breakfast. I want it to be a surprise for Dumbledore- he comes in first every day, ye know."

So, they set to work. Soon, chants of "_Wingardium Leviosa_" could be heard from the four of them (Hagrid got the ones he could reach, though being so tall, that was a good bit of the decorations already). It didn't take very long between the four of them to get all the decorations up.

"Ye all did a fine job," remarked Hagrid, as he looked out over the Great Hall.

"It was fun," said Luna. "My family loves putting up the decorations at our house."

Hermione could somehow sense that Ron was going to say something he'd later regret, so she settled for a swift, yet discreet, kick to the shins. He yelped a bit, but not loud enough for anyone to hear.

Just then, the rear door swung open, and a bright blue robe appeared. Somehow, though, everyone could tell who it was, before he even stepped in.

"Fantastic!" remarked Dumbledore, gazing out over the Hall. With one flick of his wand, the tables all went back to their places. "And now- it is perfect."

And with that, he dismissed them. Harry turned to leave and found Luna at his side.

"There's mistletoe under the door," she said. "Better watch out."

"For what?" asked Harry, as they went under the door.

"For this," she replied; as they went under the door, Luna turned Harry around and planted a kiss on his lips. Smiling at him, Luna left, leaving a very confused Harry standing there, under the mistletoe.


	6. Remembering

It was a quiet afternoon in the Gryffindor common room. Most of the students were away for the Christmas holidays, but the trio had decided to stay: Harry, because he didn't think he could bear spending all of Christmas with the Dursleys; Ron, because his family was off to America for a vacation; and Hermione, simply because Ron was staying.

At the time, all three of them were fast asleep by the fire, in the good armchairs. Suddenly, Harry woke up, feeling a breeze on his face. He looked above him, and his face grow hard.

"Get out of here, Peeves!" he whispered harshly, but Peeves just cackled.

"Why, so the wee students can get their beauty sleep? I guess I will then, seeing as you three need all the beauty sleep you can get!" Peeves flew away, cackling and shouting curse words as he left. Harry looked over to Ron and Hermione; thankfully, neither of them had been woken up by Peeves.

Harry lay his head back down on the back of the chair, but try as he might, he couldn't get back to sleep. Getting up, he decided to go down to the owlery. He slipped out of the portrait hole, and made his way up.

When he got there, Hedwig swooped down and landed on his shoulder.

"Miss me?" asked Harry, as he stroked her feathers. Somehow the look in Hedwig's eyes said that she had.

Just then, the door opened; Harry looked up, as she walked in. She walked over to one of the school owls, and tied a letter around its leg. She seemed to not even notice Harry standing next to the window. She walked over, and let the owl fly out the window, then turned around to head out.

"Merry Christmas, Luna," Harry said.

Luna whirled around, in surprise. "Oh, hello, Harry," she said. "I didn't notice you there."

"Sending a letter off to your dad?" asked Harry.

"Oh, yes," she replied. "I always forget to send him a Merry Christmas letter until the very last minute. I do hope he gets it today."

Harry noticed that something was odd about Luna today. "You seem a bit down, Luna. Is everything alright?"

Luna looked up at Harry, a lone tear forming. "No… no, everything's not alright. You remember, I told you my mum died when I was nine, and… well, she always did love Christmas…"

Harry looked at her, a bit surprised; he'd never actually seen her come close to crying before. She was always… so calm, so collected, never let anything bother her…

Her voice snapped him back to reality. "I came up here to watch the sunrise. It was something me and my mum did every Christmas; we'd go up to the highest room in our house, and watch the sun come up. We always loved it."

Harry simply smiled. "Funny, you know: that's actually the reason that I came up here."

Luna looked a bit surprised. "Odd, this is. I had a feeling you'd be up here, actually, though I had no clue that you were here for the same reason I was."

Harry turned and looked outside. "I've never been able to watch the sun rise on Christmas day before- I was always asleep."

Luna laughed. "Oh, me and mum didn't sleep too often." She walked over and lay her hand on the windowsill.

They were only there for a few more moments, before the sun began to make its way up the horizon, filling the sky with its radiance.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said Luna.

Harry lay his hand on top of hers. "Sure is." Luna turned a bright shade of red, before grasping Harry's hand in hers.

"I may not be able to be with my mum this Christmas," said Luna with a smile, "but right now… I wouldn't ask to be anywhere else."


	7. A Midnight Visit

Soft music played throughout the living room; that, combined with the flashing lights on the Christmas tree and the warm, crackling fire, made for quite the peaceful night. The furniture in the living room had been rearranged for that night only- the couch now faced the fireplace, the chairs turned to give a full view of the tree.

On the couch was a young girl, a look of inexpressible joy on her face. She had been waiting up almost the entire night for Santa to come; finally, though, she had succumbed to sleep. Now, she lay stretched out on the couch, her hands folded under her head in a makeshift pillow. She still faced the chimney, in waiting for him to come.

Not even her daddy believed that Santa would come, though. "I don't think he's coming this year, Luna," he said dejectedly. "He didn't last year..."

No matter what, though, she wouldn't stop believing. Luna wasn't the type to stop believing in something, simply because no one else did. No one at Hogwarts believed in Nargles or Crumple-Horned Snorkacks besides Luna, but she still kept to her faith in them, though.

That's what led her to stay on the couch all night; she hadn't moved at all, not even to roll over- especially not to roll over. She wanted to catch Santa coming down the chimney, for the first time. She wanted this, almost as much as she wanted to finally catch even a glimpse of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Her last thought, before she drifted away, was of the only young man she'd ever come to fall in love with. She wasn't even sure if Harry knew about her love for him, but she believed that one day, she would finally get up the nerve to tell him.

Suddenly, her eyes flew open; she had heard something, a noise, that seemed to come from the direction of the fireplace. She gazed intently; finally, a bit of ash fell down into the fireplace, and she knew for certain then- Santa had come, finally. She closed her eyes again, intending to stay awake, but she soon fell right back to sleep. After a minute, a good bit of ash came flying out, as a large object fell down and landed on the burnt firewood.

A tall, skinny form came out, and shook the dust and ash out of his hair and eyes. He surveyed the room, finally letting his eyes rest on the tree that was so brightly lit.

"Why on earth did I decide to come down the chimney?" Harry asked himself as he made his way over to the tree. "It would have been so much easier just to come through the front door... I bet they don't even have Muggle security alarms here."

Harry carefully placed the package under the tree; he noticed that it was the only one under there, that year. "They must be going through quite a hard time," he thought to himself. An idea came to him, and he smiled as he thought of it. Pulling out his money pouch, he realized that it would be plenty. He pulled a scrap piece of paper out of his pocket, wrote "to the Lovegood family," and placed the sack and paper under the tree.

He was about to make his way to the door, when he glanced over at Luna. He could feel his cheeks flush, as he stepped over to her sleeping form. He kissed her on the forehead, then turned around and made his way out of their house- smiling the whole way.


	8. The Music Box

Harry snapped out of a deep sleep, though his eyes did not open. Slowly, he rubbed his eyes, as though that would either remove the grogginess he now felt, or cause him to go back to sleep. Problem was, neither happened. Slowly, he sat up in his bed, resigning himself to not going back to sleep.

"Not again…" he muttered. It seemed as though he was waking up like this a lot lately, and for the same reason, too- No matter what kind of dream he was having, he would hear a soft music playing in the background. Not that he didn't like it- he did. But, he would always wake up not long after he heard the music playing.

"I wouldn't mind if I could actually stay asleep and listen to the music," he thought as he swiveled his vision around the room. Ron, Seamus, Dean- all of them were still asleep, though Ron was quietly muttering something about "spiders"…

Harry was about to go back to sleep, when he heard it- the same music that he heard in his dreams. He stopped everything he was doing, and listened intently, but the music had faded away. Shrugging, he lay his head back down onto the pillow, when he heard the same sound again. He bolted upright, but this time the music didn't go away- it kept playing, an old tune that seemed oddly familiar to Harry.

Slowly, he got out of bed, so as not to disturb his roommates. He opened the door to the staircase, and was surprised to hear that the music got a good bit louder when he did so. "Is it coming from the common room?" he asked himself as he made his way down the stairs; it sure seemed like it to him, because the music was growing steadily louder. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed that there was someone sitting in one of the good armchairs. Looking over there, he felt his heart skip a beat.

"Luna?" he asked. "What on earth are you doing? And here, of all places…"

Luna looked up at Harry, a bit surprised. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Harry. Did I wake you?"

"No," Harry said, walking over to the chair and sitting down by it, "I woke up on my own. So, what are you doing down here?"

"Oh, the other Ravenclaws are having a party still. They're celebrating their Quidditch victory."

"Where'd you get the box?" Harry asked, just noticing the box that was sitting on Luna's lap.

"It's a music box, one my mum gave me when I was seven. We never had much money growing up, so this was one of the best presents I ever got…"

Harry smiled, and moved over from the chair a bit, laying down in front of the fire. "Keep playing. I like the music."

Slowly, Luna turned the handle, and the music once again began to play. Harry soon found himself struggling to stay awake, but he soon succumbed, and drifted off into sweet nothingness.

•••••

The next morning, Ron made his way down to the Gryffindor common room. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them. He noticed Hermione by the edge of the stairs, and was about to say good morning to her, when she shushed him. She motioned him over to her, and Ron went, a puzzled look on his face. When he got to where Hermione was, she pointed, and Ron's jaw dropped.

"What the bloody…" he murmured.

"Let's leave them," Hermione whispered. She turned Ron to her, gave him a kiss, then grabbed his hand and left the room. The room grew quiet, and Harry slept on- snuggling a smiling Luna to his side, never wanting to let go.


	9. The Only Valentine

**A/N: Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day. Those of you who celebrate it, that is… This particular piece is AU, set during **_**Half-Blood Prince**_

Pink flowers, pink hearts, even pink streamers decorating the staircases- there was pink all over the Hogwarts grounds. And most of the students seemed to like all the festive colors. For some reason, though, all the brightness gave Harry a massive headache.

"Who made pink the official color of Valentine's Day?" asked Harry, a few days before the Day of Love.

"Beats me, mate," replied Ron, sinking further down into the armchair. Ron, like Harry, didn't like all the pink floating around the school. Hermione, of course, loved it.

"What is it with you two, and not liking pink?"

Ron pretended to think for a minute. "Let's see… maybe 'cause pink's a girl's color, and we're guys…"

"Guys can like pink, too, you know," replied Hermione, a bit offended. "Look at Hagrid; he has that pink umbrella with him."

"Yeah," replied Ron, "but that's because Hagrid's the only one who can pull off something like that. Someone like myself or Harry- no."

Hermione checked her watch. "Oh, oh… come on, we're going to be late for dinner." The three of them set off towards the Great Hall.

"You're lucky, Ron," commented Harry as they went along.

"How so?" replied Ron.

"You actually have someone you can spend Valentine's Day with…"

Ron's eyes widened. "Is that why you don't like Valentine's Day? Hey, that dance is coming up in a few days- why not ask Ginny?"

"Ginny's going with Neville, I already checked."

Ron thought for a second, in silence. "What about Luna?"

Harry glanced at Ron. "I've thought about it. I mean, she's cute and all, and I don't think anyone else would give her any valentines, so… I might."

Soon, they'd made it into the Great Hall, where (as Harry had feared) pink was everywhere- even on the valentine that was sitting near where Harry usually sat.

Ron glanced down at it, then picked it up. "It's for you," he said, handing it to Harry.

Harry looked down at it, and sure enough, it had his name on it. Harry carefully took it from Ron; was it a Howler, in disguise? Slowly, he opened it, but all that was in it were words: _Harry, if you would, meet me outside Ravenclaw tower at 9:00 tonight._ The letter had no signature.

"Who do you think it's from?" asked Hermione, who had been reading it over Harry's shoulder.

Harry looked over at the Ravenclaw table. All he said was: "The only Ravenclaw who's ever really noticed me…"

-----

At 9:00, Harry made his way out to Ravenclaw tower, just like the valentine asked him to do. The hallway was a bit too quiet for Harry's tastes, but he figured quiet was better than loud noise. Finally, after a good while, he made it over to the tower. Glancing around, he didn't notice anyone there.

"Hello?" he called out. "Is there anyone here?"

A voice suddenly piped up, from behind him. "I'm glad you came, Harry."

Harry whirled around; there standing behind him, was Luna, smiling as always. "I was wondering whether you'd come."

"Thanks for the valentine," said Harry. "It's the only one I've gotten so far."

"Yes, well, I think I might not be getting any this year, though I must say, I have gotten used to it by now."

"What did you want to ask me?" said Harry.

"Well," said Luna, a blush beginning to form on her face, "I was wondering if… maybe, you would want to accompany me to the Valentine's Day dance…"

A lone tear slid down her face, causing Harry to feel more sorry for her than ever before. It also made her look… more beautiful, though, and before Harry knew what had happened, he had walked over to Luna and wrapped his arms around her.

"Of course," Harry said, and Luna dissolved into tears, pressing her face against his chest. Harry couldn't make out much, through her tears, but he could fully understand the last thing she said. All she said, was, "Thank you."

**To Be Continued**


	10. Lead Me Home

**I'm finally getting around to updating this... Yay for me. Anyways, enjoy chapter 10.**

"...lucky."

Harry was absorbed in his _Quidditch through the Ages_ book- so much so, that he almost didn't hear Ron's statement, directed at him.

"What was that, mate?" asked Harry as he put his book on his lap, in order to better see his best mate. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah, I said that I really think you're lucky."

Harry just gaped at Ron for a moment; this was definitely not something he'd expect Ron to say. He tried to recover without sounding like a complete git. "Why do you say that, Ron?"

Ron looked up at his mate, and Harry's jaw almost dropped- Ron had never looked so... depressed before. Nothing like this. It was almost as though...

"I don't think me and Hermione are going to last very much longer." Ron had been waiting all day to say that, waiting until just the right moment when his girlfriend wasn't around. Harry could visibly see that a huge weight had been lifted off Ron's shoulders, though he could still tell that not all of Ron's troubles had come and passed; the way he sunk into one of the good armchairs only confirmed it.

This was another thing that Harry wasn't expecting- he had always thought that Ron and Hermione were constantly on good terms. It'd taken them six and a half years to get together, they'd become close to best friends since then- something big must be up for Ron to say something like that. "If you don't mind me asking, why do you think that?"

Ron looked up at Harry, seemingly near tears. "She... she thinks that I'm in love with Loony- oh, sorry, Luna."

If he wasn't expecting the previous two statements, then this one absolutely floored him. Ron, in love with Luna? _Is it possible...?_ "Are you?"

"No, I'm not, and that's the thing that's bothering me the most- she won't even give me a chance to explain myself... She's just judging me already..."

"That's not like her... Is this about the Christmas gift you gave her?"

Ron looked up again, surprised. "I- I thought no one else knew about that."

Harry chuckled, amused. "She told me about it herself. She really liked the snowglobe, by the way."

Ron looked even more uncomfortable, once Harry had said that. "What am I supposed to do? She won't even let me get near her anymore..."

Despite his intense wish to stay out of Ron and Hermione's troubles, he started to get afraid that this one might ruin the two for good. "Alright, Ron, do you want me to go talk to Hermione for you?"

"That'd be great," was all he said, before he got up out of his chair and headed up the stairs to their separate rooms. Harry stayed downstairs and pondered for a moment, before he finally made up his mind and headed out the portrait hole- with his Invisibility Cloak, in case he couldn't get this done before curfew.

--

Silently, Harry climbed the stairs that would lead him up to the entrance to Ravenclaw tower. _If I'm going to talk to Hermione about Ron and Luna, it might be best to have Luna come with me and explain to her that it was a mistake. Maybe if she hears it straight from her mouth, then she'll be more apt to believe it..._ Harry was so lost in thought, he almost missed the door he needed to go through; he opened it to hear a pair of voices arguing.

"So what if I'm in love with him?" came the first voice. "Is that a crime?" _Is that Luna...?_

The second voice was more harsh than the first: "You'll never be good enough for Harry, little Loony. Just face it." Harry recognized the second voice immediately. _Draco..._

"Why do you even care?" came Luna's voice again. Before Draco had a chance to respond, Harry stepped out of the darkness.

"Good question, isn't it, Draco?"

Draco's face paled; he knew that voice from anywhere. He composed himself quickly, and turned to face his confronter. "Well, wee Potter, what are you doing out this late?"

"I came here to find Luna."

This threw Draco off; why the hell had he come here to find Luna? "What do you want with Loony?"

"That can wait. Right now, my business is with you." Harry stepped forward, wand drawn and ready. "Leave her alone. In fact, just leave. I'm not the only one who isn't supposed to stay down here long..."

Draco wanted so badly to curse Harry, but he knew that with his track record as of late, it would be the last straw. So, he simply settled for flashing a menacing look and a very rude gesture towards Harry, then stomping off while muttering Wizard Swears under his breath.

Harry turned to Luna. "Are you alright?"

Luna had turned a bit pale(r), but when Harry spoke to her, her face started to blush almost immediately. "I'm fine..." _Please, don't let him bring up what I said..._

"I need to talk to you about something." Luna's heart almost stopped when she heard this, and she awaited him asking if she was really in love with him... "It's about the snowglobe that Ron gave you for Christmas."

Time sped up again, and Luna found herself able to breathe easier. "What about it?"

"Well, Hermione found out about it, and she took it the wrong way."

Luna looked a bit puzzled. "I was the one who was showing it off to her. I didn't realize she was going to get mad about it..."

"She thinks that the reason that Ron gave you that snowglobe was because he was in love with you."

Luna let out a soft laugh. "I see... is he?"

Harry smiled. "No, he's not." _Although I am..._ "The only one that Ron's interested in is Hermione. And right now, he thinks their relationship is in big trouble."

Luna thought for a second, then focused in on Harry again. "Alright. Let's go talk to her."

"That was the plan, yes." Both of them laughed, then set off down the hallway.

Luna turned to Harry as they walked. "By the way... did you hear all of our conversation?"

"Most of it," Harry replied. "I heard the part where you said you were in love with me, if that's what you're referring to." Before Luna could say anything, Harry went on: "Don't worry; I sort of already knew."

Slowly, she looked at Harry. "So... you don't mind?"

"Why would I? Because you're Luna?"

Luna hung her head, staring intently at the ground as they walked. "Well... yes. I am quite the loner around here. You, Hermione, and Ginny are my only friends here..."

"You've got Ron and Neville, as well. And besides, I thought it would be obvious how I feel about you."

Her head snapped upward, as she gazed into his eyes. "So... you-"

"Yeah, I feel the same way."

Luna simply closed her eyes, a tear forming at the corner of one of them. She reached out and took Harry's hand; as she felt his fingers close around hers, she smiled that dreamy smile of hers. _I'll let you lead me home..._

--

Soon, the two made it back to the Great Hall, where Harry knew that Hermione would be; she had told Harry to meet her after dinner, to study for their Herbology exam the next day. Sure enough, Hermione was sitting in her usual spot, her nose buried in a book that, for what Harry could make out, was called _Rare Plants of Europe and Asia._ He walked up and sat beside her, still holding tightly to Luna's hand; Luna took a seat by Harry.

"Hermione, we need to talk."

"Not now," was her reply. "I have to study for this exam. Why don't you go talk to your girlfriend Luna?"

"Hermione, it's me, Harry."

Hermione looked up, surprised. "Oh, hello, Harry. I thought you were Ronald."

"I know. That's why I'm here."

Hermione turned suddenly, facing her book again. "Whatever he told you to say, I don't-"

"And Luna's here, too."

This stopped Hermione in her tracks; she glanced behind Harry to see Luna staring off into space. "Okay, so what do you two want?"

"To tell you it was all a misunderstanding. Luna and Ron have no feelings for each other. Truth be told, it's _me_ and Luna who are in love."

Hermione looked down suddenly; sure enough, she saw that Harry and Luna were tightly holding hands. _As if they never want to let go..._

Ron's face flashed into Hermione's mind, and a tear formed in the corner of her eye, as she thought of how he must be feeling at the moment... _I've got to make things right... _"I guess I jumped to conclusions... Where's Ron right now?"

"Probably still in the Gryffindor dorms." Hermione got up quickly and, stuffing her books into her bag, ran off. "Thank you!" she yelled behind her back.

Harry was about to turn to Luna when he heard her speak up: "There's no one here."

He turned to Luna, to ask her what she'd said, but when he faced her, he was greeted with her lips pressed up against his. He closed his eyes, and the two kissed passionately. As the two sat there, feeling more alive than ever before, a common thought passed through both their minds: _Who cares if anyone comes in?_

**Well, guys, that was fun. It was also the biggest HarryLuna fic that I've written for this set of stories, but I really don't care. Why? 'Cause I had fun writing this one, moreso than most any other story I've written (at least for this compilation). Again, sorry for taking almost three months to update this. Hope you'll stick around, and anxiously await chapter 11!**


	11. Tonight

**Again, it's taken me way too long to get around to finding time to update this. Sorry for the long delay, but here's chapter eleven.**

* * *

"Welcome back," were Dumbledore's first words, as he addressed the Hogwarts students at the beginning of the second term.

"I hope you all had an excellent Christmas break, with many gifts and even more good memories. But now, it is time for you all to get back into your rhythm, as your classes will start back up tomorrow.

"I trust that you all have completed any homework your professors may have assigned you over the holidays-"

Harry and Ron glanced over at each other, grimacing; their Potions homework had completely slipped their mind. Hermione shook her head irritably, as though she had read their mind and knew exactly what the two were thinking.

"Now," Dumbledore continued, "the first Quidditch game of the second term will take place this coming Friday; Hufflepuff and Slytherin will play each other. Later on this term will be the final game of the Quidditch year, with Ravenclaw taking on Gryffindor. As always, you are all required to attend these games, though you don't usually seem to have a problem with this."

Ron and Harry grinned; of course the two of them didn't have a problem with it- they played Quidditch for the Gryffindor team, and were always happy to cheer their friends on.

When they weren't playing against them, that is.

After a few more words, Dumbledore ended his speech, and their dinner magically appeared on the tables in front of them. Conversation quickly ensued, as the students began to eat.

"How was your Christmas, Harry?" asked Hermione, as she placed a chicken leg on her plate.

"About the same as it always is," Harry replied, digging into a turkey leg. "I managed to make the Dursleys mad at me again."

"How?" asked Ron.

"I hid all of Dudley's presents in my old cupboard, then told them I used magic to send them to Mars."

Ron stifled a laugh, as Hermione's jaw dropped.

"That was so mean!!!"

"Yeah," replied Ron, "but they probably deserved it, didn't they, Harry?"

"Sort of," said Harry. "They actually pretty much left me alone for the break, but only after I told them the truth and brought Dudley's presents out."

"I'm sort of surprised you went home for Christmas this year," said Ginny, who had just woken up from a nap and rushed down to the Great Hall to meet her friends.

"Just wanted a change of pace," replied Harry. "Plus, Ron and Hermione went home, too, so I didn't want to be here all alone-"

"Hey, Harry," said Seamus, "I think Luna wants you."

Harry looked over at the Ravenclaw table, and sure enough, Luna was waving at Harry, a large smile on her face.

Harry returned the smile and the wave, then turned to Ron. "Be back in a minute."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Ron said, with a wink.

Harry shook his head, then headed over to the Ravenclaw side. When he arrived, he sat down next to Luna.

"I'm happy to see you back," said Luna, a slight blush beginning to come over her face.

"Same here," replied Harry. "Did you get my letter over the break?"

Luna smiled. "Yes, I did. It was very sweet. And I'm sorry I couldn't come over to spend Christmas with you; my father and I went out to the mountains and spent Christmas there."

"That's fine," replied Harry. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then leaned in close to Luna. "Are you doing anything this Friday?"

Luna was a bit puzzled. "Other than the Quidditch game, no. Why do you ask?"

Harry smiled. "About that..."

---

Friday came soon, and though the snow was blowing and the wind was horrendous, the students still filed out in droves to watch the Quidditch game. Amongst them were Ron and Hermione, who were holding hands tightly and laughing as though they didn't have a care in the world.

"Ron! Hermione!"

The two looked up to see Harry and Luna already up in the stands, waving at them- well, at least Harry was waving. Luna had her arms wrapped tightly around Harry, her head resting on his shoulder. Luna's eyes were closed, bliss etched in every inch of her face.

In a few moments, Ron and Hermione had reached them.

"We saved some seats for you," Luna said without opening her eyes, as the other two took their places beside Harry.

"Who do you think is going to win?" asked Ron.

"I'd bet on Slytherin," replied Harry. "As much as I hate the entire slimy bunch of them, they do have a really good team."

"As much as I hate to admit it," said Hermione, "I think you're right this."

A few minutes later, Madam Hooch blew the whistle to start the match, the Quaffle was tossed up in the air, and the game officially began.

Luna snuggled up closer to Harry, and Harry wrapped his arms around Luna, softly kissing her forehead.

"Are you warm enough?" Harry asked.

Luna smiled. "I'm fine, as long as I can stay here by your side."

Harry could feel a warm blush spread across his face. "Good, 'cause I don't want you to leave."

"I won't," was Luna's reply. "Not now, not ever."

---

Soon- too soon for the students- the game was over. As Harry and Hermione had thought, Slytherin had practically wiped the floor with Hufflepuff, with the final score being 210 to 90.

As all the students made their way back to the castle, Luna turned to Harry. "This was the best date I've ever been on, Harry. Thank you."

Harry smiled at her. "No problem. I loved it just as much as you did. Though… it's not over yet."

Luna looked a bit surprised. "It's not?"

"No," replied Harry, "not even close. In fact… tonight is just beginning." He leaned down and kissed Luna again, this time on the lips. "I promise you this- you'll never want tonight to end."

* * *

**Yes, I am ending this here. Just use your imagination as to what happened on the second part of their date. I hope to have chapter 12 up in a bit less time than seven months from now, so keep on the look-out for it.**


	12. Dance, Luna, Dance

**Remember when I last updated this one? It was January of this year… So it's only been six months since I updated it, and not seven, like last time.**

**Not only that, but I'm finally writing part two of my story **_**The Only Valentine**_**; you can find the first part of the story in chapter nine. I know, it's been too long, but I finally am up to writing this.**

**As always, read and enjoy!!!**

* * *

As the sun came up and rose over the spires of Hogwarts, an animated chatter was beginning to spread throughout the student body.

And for good reason, too- that day was Valentine's Day.

Harry had just gone back to sleep, after a rough night of tossing, turning, and vivid dreams about Luna. He rolled over and shut his eyes tighter, when he was jolted back to reality by a scream of "Oh my… Harry, come look at this!"

Groaning, Harry rolled over to face Hermione. "Now?"

A pillow whacked Harry in the face. "Yes, now! Get out of bed- it's daytime."

Groggily, Harry sat up on his bed. "But, we don't even have a first-period class today. Remember- Trelawney cancelled class due to her 'aura being out of whack'?"

He heard someone laugh beside him, and turned to see who it was.

"I'd actually forgotten about that one, mate," Ron said, still smiling. "I'm glad you reminded me."

Hermione shook her head. "Ron, you'd probably forget to breathe if someone didn't remind you."

"Might be true," replied Ron, "which is why I'm glad you're around." He pantomimed blowing a kiss towards Hermione, who did the same in return, her face flushing a deep crimson.

Harry sighed; already, he could tell it was going to be a long day.

Looking around the room, he noticed that even the dorms had been decorated overnight; it now resembled the rest of Hogwarts, awash in everything pink or close to pink as they could find.

"Damn pink…" Harry muttered.

"I know," piped up Neville, who had woken up moments earlier. "I hate that color… And it's all over the place now."

Harry was glad that someone was actually agreeing with him, for once, instead of contradicting him and saying something about how the pink was cute, or pretty, or "indicative of the day."

He was about to say something else, but Hermione spoke first: "Harry, you have a Valentine, too."

Harry was a bit surprised; he wasn't expecting one. Luna had already given him a Valentine, and he wasn't expecting to get one from anyone else.

Warily, he made his way over to the massive pile of Valentines that had been placed almost in the dead center of the room. He saw that both Ron and Hermione had received a good number of Valentines- most of them, probably from each other- and some of the others had received a few. Neville, he saw, had only one.

"It's from my grandmother," Neville said, when he saw Harry glance over at him.

Harry smiled; Neville and his grandmother had always been quite close.

Finally, he reached the giant pile; Ron, who was sitting closest to it, plucked one from the stack and handed it to Harry.

"Well, what does it say?" Hermione asked impatiently.

"Let the man read it first!" Ron retorted, and Hermione, flushing slightly, looked away.

Harry simply smiled, and opened up his Valentine. Inside was a silver ring, with very intricate patterns etched all around it. It looked very valuable, and Harry was in shock at receiving such a thing.

Lifting the ring up, he read the message that was behind it: _Dear Harry, I was out shopping with my dad a few days ago, and I saw this in a shop we went into. The store owner said it was made by an Irish silversmith centuries ago, and I thought you might like this. I'm really looking forward to the dance tonight, Harry. I know we'll have so much fun. Love, Luna._

Harry was both touched and surprised, at this gesture. _I never knew… She really does care a lot about me…_

A new determination came over him, and he walked back over to his bed, striding with a purpose.

"What's come over you, mate?" Ron asked.

Harry just grinned. "I've got to get ready for the dance. Can't disappoint her, you know."

**Later That Night**

A transformation had overcome the Great Hall, during the time dinner ended and just a mere three hours later. Now, it was covered in Valentine's Day-themed decorations, a virtual river of pink covering the Hall.

Harry had to admit, he liked the Hall's look, better than he did the rest of the school. It somehow seemed to fit better here.

He stepped into the Hall, immediately starting to glance around to look for his date. There were a lot of people already in the Hall, though, despite the fact that the dance wasn't starting for an hour or so.

Thinking that Luna hadn't shown up yet, he found a place to sit down, then on a sporadic thought, took off his tuxedo jacket and lay it on the seat next to him, trying to save a spot for her.

Soon, he was lost in imagination, enjoying just watching those around him. He was quite surprised to see Snape try to sneak in without being noticed; he thought it was odd that he would show up here, but then remembered that the dance was compulsory for all Hogwarts staff, teachers included. Harry tried to stifle a laugh, seeing the look of disgust on Snape's face; he could kind of understand his emotions, though- Harry didn't much like Valentine's Day, either.

Harry had just begun to think again, when he noticed that there were little pink hearts floating around above his head, each one a 3D image. He smiled, thinking that the Hogwarts Charms department had really outdone themselves on that one. When he began to glance around, though, he realized that the hearts were hovering above no one but himself.

Thinking that something was odd, Harry started to turn around, but was stopped by a voice from behind him: "You noticed my hearts?"

Harry turned, and saw who it was.

"Yeah," he said, smiling. "How did you do that?"

"A simple charm, actually," Luna said serenely. "If you'd like, I can teach it to you, sometime."

Harry motioned for Luna to come over to his side of the table, and she came willingly. He picked up his jacket and folded it across his lap, offering the now-available seat to Luna.

"Did you save that for me?" Luna asked, as she sat.

Harry nodded. "I didn't want anyone to grab your seat."

Luna had never had anyone really do that for her before, so she began to flush slightly. "Thank you, Harry. By the way, I got your Valentine- it was really quite good. I didn't know you were so good at using spellwork."

Harry smiled. "I wasn't, before I did that. I had to look up a lot of stuff to be able to do that. Though, I must admit, Hermione did teach me the charm I used to make it be able to fly around."

Luna laughed. "That was a nice touch. And she is a very good witch, Hermione is. I wish I were as smart as she is."

"I do, too," Harry agreed. "Though, I think you've got something that she doesn't."

Luna was intrigued. "Oh, really? And what is that?"

"You've got imagination. You can see, and accept, things that are outside what people think of as being 'normal'."

"I didn't think that was a good thing, though…" Luna replied. "It makes people think of me differently."

As usual, she was blunt and right on the mark.

"That shouldn't matter," Harry said. "Let me ask you something- what do you think of yourself?"

Luna paused for a moment, then said, "I think I'm myself, and no one else."

This, Harry was not expecting, but he recovered quickly.

"And that's all that should matter," Harry replied. "If you like yourself the way you are, then who cares what other people think?"

Luna smiled at him. "Thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me, in a long time."

Harry was about to respond, when the music began to play.

"Is this where we're supposed to dance?" Luna asked.

"I guess so," said Harry. He stood up, and offered his hand to Luna. "Let's?"  
Luna smiled, and took his hand. "Yes."

The two of them came out near the edge of the floor, and as one, they began to dance. Luna closed her eyes, just enjoying the moment. As the music played around them, they swayed to the beat, simply staying in place, mostly because neither of them knew how to dance well. As Harry looked around him, he saw that others were doing the same thing he was, and he felt much better about it.

He looked Luna full in the face, and for the first time, realized just how happy she was, being with him. And, he began to see, he was just as happy, being with her.

Smiling at that thought, he kept on dancing, his worries and fears sliding away from him like the darkness at the dawn…

---

A few hours later, the dance ended. Slowly, the students began to pile out of the Hall, satisfied but ready for a good night's sleep. Instead of going straight back to the Gryffindor dorms, though, he walked Luna back to hers.

"I must say," she said, "I had a very good time with you, tonight. I never realized dancing could be so fun."

Harry laughed. "I know, but I'm not all that good at it."

"Neither am I," said Luna, "but I still enjoyed myself."

Harry nodded. "Me, too."

The two of them stopped at the entrance to the Ravenclaw dorm. Harry was about to say goodnight to her, when he noticed something hanging above their heads.

"Is that… mistletoe?"

Luna looked up, then smiled. "Oh, it is. I put that up there for Christmas, but I guess I forgot to take it back down afterwards."

Impulsively, Harry pulled Luna close to her. "You said that tonight was going to be the best night ever. Was it?"

Luna smiled. "Now it is." And, surprising even herself, she leaned up and kissed Harry.

He responded warmly, and the two of them embraced. A minute later, they broke apart.

"Now," Luna said, smiling wider than ever, "now, it's the best night ever."

* * *

**Hope you liked it, 'cause I really enjoyed writing this one. It was sweet, but (I hope) not too sweet.**

**See you next time!**


	13. Secrets of Christmas

**Time for my second Christmas story in this little batch...**

Frost had fallen over the Hogwarts grounds, giving the entire campus the feel of almost a vast iceberg, albeit one with trees and buildings inexplicably sticking up from beyond the immediate surface.

It was really quite peaceful.

There were bound to be some people who didn't appreciate the wintry weather, though, and that person came in the form of Ron.

"Why the bloody hell does it have to be so cold during the winter?" Ron grumbled, rubbing his un-mittened hands together in an effort to warm them up. He, Harry, and Hermione were walking out to Care of Magical Creatures class, which was (regrettably) still outdoors.

Hagrid's giant blood obviously helped him ward off the cold.

"If you would wear your mittens like any sane person would," Hermione retorted, "maybe you wouldn't be so cold."

"I told you, I left them in my room. Though, a more accurate statement would be that I couldn't find them this morning-"

"No doubt you couldn't! Your area is an absolute pigsty, from what I hear-"

"Oh, and just because yours is absolutely perfect, like you..."

They continued on like this until they came to Hagrid's hut, then they had to hush up because they were late to class ("No thanks to Ronald," was Hermione's comment).

"...this year," Hagrid was saying. "Just because, well, I figured you all would want a bit of a change from the normal humdrum of Christmas."

The three settled in by the back of the group, waving at Neville, who was already returning the gesture.

"Now that we've got everyone in agreement-"

"Um, sir," Harry began, raising his hand tentatively, "what exactly are you referring to?"

"Ah right, I forgot you three came in late. Well, Harry, this year, our class is doing a Secret Santa game. Basically, that's where we draw names and we give a gift to someone in the class. You don't tell them who you are, though, 'til after all the gifts have been given.

"This time, though, we're doing it differently. We aren't going to limit it to just our classmates, though if you want to choose one of them, you're certainly most welcome to. I'm going to allow you to pick _anyone_ in the school, to give your Secret Santa gift to. Plus, I've already extended the offer to my other classes, so maybe you'll get something from them, as well as your fellow classmates."

Apparently, the rest of the class had already agreed to do it, because no further word was mentioned about it. Instead, Hagrid just launched right into the lesson. At least they would not have to worry about the cold- they were working with the Blast-Ended Skrewts that day...

---

After much thought, Harry had figured out what he'd wanted to get his Secret Santa for Christmas. There had been a visit to Hogsmeade not too long beforehand, and he'd found just the thing for his person.

_Now_, he thought as he snuck down the hallway to place the gift under their House's Christmas tree, _all I have to do is wait..._

---

Christmas morning came with a sudden urgency, and Harry awoke almost before everyone else. Neville was already awake, though he was always up before everyone else. He certainly didn't expect Ron to be up, either...

When he came down to the Christmas tree, though, he was surprised to see that his initial estimate had been wrong, and that almost the entire House was already awake- Ron included.

When Ron saw him, he lit up, and motioned for Harry to come down.

"You got one," he mouthed.

Harry was puzzled. "Got one, what?"

"A Secret Santa gift, silly," Hermione replied.

Harry was even more puzzled now; he certainly hadn't expected to get something. The Dursley's had long since stopped sending him presents, and he couldn't think of anyone else who had to actually send it in via the owl mail service...

Someone picked up Harry's present and tossed it to him; he caught it, and looked down at it.

"No gift tag..." he muttered, "so no way to tell who it's from."

He ripped the wrapping off, and was quite surprised as to what he found.

"it's a necklace..." Harry whispered.

"Yeah, but look what it's got on it," Ron said, pointing down. "It's a Golden Snitch."

Indeed, there was a mini-sized Snitch dangling from the center of the chain. Harry looked over at Ron, but before he could even get a word out, Ron spoke up: "And no, I did not get it for you. I just saw it when you took it out."

The rest of the present-opening commenced, and Harry got quite a few other things, but in all honesty... he liked his necklace the best.

Not that he would actually admit that to anyone...

---

Later on that morning, all the students gathered in the Great Hall for breakfast. Before Harry could enter, though, someone tapped on his shoulder. He turned around, and smiled.

"Hello, Luna."

Indeed, Luna was standing behind him, her usual serene smile gracing her lovely face.

"Hello, Harry. Did you have a good night?"

Harry nodded. "Do you want to see what I got today?" He showed her the necklace, allowing it to glitter in the incoming sunlight.

"It looks lovely," Luna commented.

"I agree, I really like it." He slipped it around his neck and almost effortlessly clasped it shut.

"What did you get, Luna?" he asked.

In response, Luna took out a snowglobe, complete with a snowman in the front yard of the house- a house that looked oddly rook-shaped...

"It's perfect. I think the house looks quite like my own, don't you think?"

"I do," Harry replied. "Any idea on who you think gave it to you?"

Luna almost didn't respond, but then she said, "I have an idea of who I want it to be."

"Who?"

Luna leaned in and planted a kiss on Harry's cheek, before turning around to leave. As she did, she called out to him: "You guess!"

**Yup, that's it. Hope you liked it!!!**


	14. Hallowed

**My first time doing a Halloween story… Hope you like it. Also, I'm sorry for such a long time in between updates... Just a lack of drive is all.**

Hogwarts had never been immune to the Muggle holiday of Halloween, and the enthusiasm was spreading rapidly. The decorations were up, teachers were handing out Hogsmeade-bought candies at the end of class…

And then there were the pumpkins.

Everyone looked forward to seeing just how many new and exciting pumpkin creations people could come up with. Carving was certainly allowed, of course, but some did not just carve in the traditional sense of putting faces into it. Rather, they created entire sculptures out of their pumpkins, sometimes going through twenty or thirty pumpkins before they could get one right.

Luna was one of those people.

Slowly, steadily, she whittled away at her pumpkin. This was not just for herself; she was intending on giving this to someone- the one she'd been in love with since the first time they met.

She paid very close attention to the details: the glasses, the robes, even the lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead…

Luna smiled as she was doing this. "I hope you like this… I really do."

While she was making her creation, Harry and Ron sat puzzled in the Gryffindor common room.

"What the hell am I supposed to carve?" Ron said as he absent-mindedly scratched at his forehead with his wand.

"I don't know," Harry replied. "I'm horrible at these kinds of things. I'm not artistic at all."

"Nor am I," Ron admitted. "At least there's not going to be that stupid judging contest this year…"

Harry looked at Ron bemusedly. "Actually, Ron… They decided to go through with it after all."

Ron moaned and slumped further down into his chair. "Damn it all…"

"Hey, watch your language, Ron! There are young ones around…"

Hermione stepped into view. "You can't figure out what to do for your pumpkins?" Both Ron and Harry shook their heads emphatically.

Hermione sighed. "What do you like most? Try using that for inspiration. I'll come check on you two later."

An hour passed, then two, and still Ron and Harry were stumped. As Ron fell asleep, Harry stared into the fire. He thought about Sirius, and how he would have liked for him to appear in the fire as he used to, and give him a bit of advice as to how to proceed.

Suddenly, he heard a knock at the portrait. He got up and went over to the entrance, opening the panel.

"Luna? What brings you here…?"

"I wanted to know if you were done with your pumpkin yet," Luna replied, smiling her usual glorious smile. "I just finished with mine."

"I'm at a bit of a loss," Harry admitted. "I can't figure out what to do…"

"Think of what you love the most. That will give you a great inspiration."

"Funny, Hermione said just about the same thing," Harry replied.

"Then you should know it to be true." Luna smiled at him one last time and turned, skipping back down the hallway.

Harry shut the portrait and returned to his seat.

"What I love the most…?" he mused out loud. "What do I love the most…? Quidditch? My family? L-"

He stopped himself before he said that last word out loud. No one knew of the feelings he held for Luna. No one would understand them…

Now that she was firmly in his mind, though, he knew what he was to do.

**The Next Day**

It was fate that they met before the whole thing started.

"Did you get your pumpkin done?" Luna asked, holding something behind her back.

"I did," Harry replied. "Both of them."

Luna was a bit surprised at this. "What do you mean?"

"I made one for the contest… and one for you."

Luna could feel her cheeks growing hot. "Harry, you really didn't have to do that…"

"I wanted to… It was no trouble at all, really." Harry smiled. "But you first."

"Well…" she said quietly, "I did the same thing you did. I made one for the contest… and one for you."

"One for me? What did you make?"

Luna slowly brought out the pumpkin sculpture from behind her back. As Harry registered what it was, his eyes widened. "You… made that?"

Luna nodded. "It took me most of the night but I wanted it to be perfect for you…"

Harry smiled. "Anything you would have made for me would be perfect, at least in my eyes…" He held his own creation out. "Here's mine for you."

Luna gasped. Harry had crafted an image of her mother and father, locked in a tight kiss. A tear came to her eyes, and soon she collapsed into tears.

Harry rushed to her side and held her as close to him as he could. "What's wrong, Luna?"

Luna suddenly flung her arms around him and kissed him as passionately as she could. When they finally broke apart, her tears were still freely flowing but she was smiling now.

"This is the most amazing thing that anyone has ever done for me… I wish it didn't have to go away."

"It doesn't. I put a spell on it to make sure it never rots or anything. It'll stay like this forever…"

Hearing these words, Luna pulled Harry close to her again. "I hope, Harry… so will we."


End file.
